Prime ministers frustrated by lack of cooperation with Ottawa

(Halifax) Canada’s provincial and territorial premiers lamented Tuesday what they called a lack of teamwork by the federal government on important issues, from housing to school lunch programs.

The British Columbia premier even went so far as to say that working with Ottawa can feel like “banging your head against a wall.”

The premiers of the 10 provinces and three territories are in Halifax for three days this week to participate in the summer meeting of the Council of the Federation, hosted by Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston.

On Tuesday, British Columbia Premier David Eby told reporters that for years, at these federation meetings, he and his counterparts have been pushing for a meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

“This call remains unanswered and I do not understand why, because we have a lot of work to do together,” explained Mr. Eby.

Mr. Houston expressed similar sentiments in a letter sent to Mr. Trudeau before the conference, asking the prime minister to “work with us in true partnership” to revive “the collaborative spirit of the federation.”

Provinces “bypassed”, services “duplicated”

Nova Scotia’s premier told reporters Tuesday that provinces and territories are very responsive to the needs of their residents and want to work more closely with Ottawa to tackle major issues.

“As provinces and territories, we have certain things that are in our hands, that are within our jurisdiction. We know a lot about them, we know what we need. And we have ideas about how to approach them,” he said.

“So what we’ve asked Ottawa to do is partner with us on these things and work with us, and not try to get around us — as can sometimes be the case, as we’re seeing in some of the housing projects that are going on.”

One federal program that has drawn provincial ire is the Housing Accelerator Fund, through which Ottawa distributes housing money directly to cities and municipalities, bypassing provincial governments.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, who has been a vocal critic of the fund, said Tuesday that a lack of collaboration has led to duplication of other programs such as dental care, pharmacare and the school lunch program.

Duplicating these services means that “taxpayers are paying twice as many civil servants to deliver the program, which means the funds are not going to the people who need them,” she said.

“What we’re advocating is working with us. If you want to help us share the costs, use our architecture and provide funding so we can expand the programs,” she told Ottawa.

General exasperation

Ontario Premier Doug Ford acknowledged there is a general sense of frustration among his peers when it comes to working with Ottawa. “All the premiers together, I think we’re pretty frustrated in this area, but we want to work with the federal government,” Ford told reporters Tuesday.

David Eby said he believes progress could be made if Justin Trudeau meets with premiers and develops a plan to work together.

“It’s not about money. It’s not about additional funding, it’s about whether we can coordinate nationally in these areas of common interest. And that’s where we sometimes feel like we’re banging our heads against a wall,” he said.

The prime minister’s office was not immediately available for comment.